Pass it on: Verlander mentoring Fulmer

DETROIT — Justin Verlander has been where Michael Fulmer is now.

A decade ago, Verlander was the rookie sensation in the Tigers’ rotation, delivering like an ace every five games and pitching Detroit into contention. He was the youngster pitching beyond his previous innings level, trying to maintain not only his rotation spot but the quality pitching that got him there.

And as Fulmer heads into the home stretch of his incredible rookie campaign, leading American League pitchers in ERA, Verlander is right there with him, just as Kenny Rogers was for him. Verlander has been there ever since Spring Training, when he noticed the hard-throwing young right-hander with the big arm on the mound and his head buried in his locker in the Lakeland, Fla., clubhouse.

“That’s why I talked to him when he got sent down in the spring,” Verlander said. “He’s going to go out there and attack. That’s a great combination. You have that fire to be great and the ability to do it. You can bring a pitcher out of that.”

When the Tigers called up Fulmer near the end of April, Fulmer pitched two games after Verlander in the rotation order. So when they faced the same opponent, Fulmer would study the way Verlander approached particular hitters, note what worked for him, then take that into his outing. By the first weekend in June, they were pitching …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com